looking for a NAS solution

[mr moose]

Hi guys,  I need some experienced opinions.

 

I have heard that cheaper NAS solutions have trouble when they are being accessed by several computers. What I need is a NAS with about 2-4TB of storage that I can have one computer play a HD video file from while another is backing up various files. 

 

Can anyone recommend a NAS?  I was looking at the netgear readynas duo v2 and the d-link sharecentre.

It would be good if I could start with one drive and add the second when the first gets full. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

Cheers

Mr Moose

[jtwj]

1. How many systems do you have? Do you just have 2 systems or at any given time there are only 2 systems connected to it?

 

2. Do you need redundancy?

 

3. Is your use case limited to only video playback and backups?

[mr moose]

1. How many systems do you have? Do you just have 2 systems or at any given time there are only 2 systems connected to it?

 

2. Do you need redundancy?

 

3. Is your use case limited to only video playback and backups?

 

I have 8 pcs on my network, three of them will be playing videos of it, but in reality max. two at a time, the rest of the NAS will be used for storage and hdd images. Worst case use I expect will be two computers copying or reading files from it while two computers play video of it.  I have noticed some are accessible through the net, this would be good but not essential.

 

 

Cheers

mr moose

[LimeDk]

take a look a Synology DS213 series lot a power in those and they have a great software/UI.

 

i got a DS212j and it backups 2-3 computer and you can easily stream movies on more than one computer from it

[looney]

The Synology software is indeed top notch.

[L.E.D]

I am not sure if you are up to it but I have built my own, you can use the FreeNAS OS on just about any configuration of hardware and have a NAS, I think what you are looking for is one that you can throw a drive in and go correct ?

[mr moose]

I am not sure if you are up to it but I have built my own, you can use the FreeNAS OS on just about any configuration of hardware and have a NAS, I think what you are looking for is one that you can throw a drive in and go correct ?

 

Yes on both, I can build easy but I would prefer to throw a hdd at something and just go, plus power consumption from always on is on my mind.  Does the freeNAS software provide password protection etc?

 

Thanks for your input so far guys, that synology looks good, just can't find a local supplier to get a price.

[L.E.D]

Yes on both, I can build easy but I would prefer to throw a hdd at something and just go, plus power consumption from always on is on my mind.  Does the freeNAS software provide password protection etc?

 

Thanks for your input so far guys, that synology looks good, just can't find a local supplier to get a price.

 

Yes FreeNAS can be setup with multiple accounts or with a guest account and an IP lock, That is how I have mine setup, so that if you are not in the list of accepted IP's you don't get access,

[mr moose]

That sounds pretty awesome, can it be configured to be accessed from the net? this is not essential but sounds like a very handy option.

 

After looking at the suggestions it looks like a semi decent setup is going to cost me about 400-500 dollars regardless of which way I go.

 

Does anyone know what the performance would be like if I used an older lga 775 motherboard and Celeron processor?  would the file transfer be slow or laggy?

 

cheers